Shining Bronze-cuckoo Chalcites lucidus
(aka Chrysococcyx lucidus)
Immature Shining Bronze Cuckoo, You Yangs RP, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image You Yangs RP, Victoria, Australia
February 2006

The Shining Bronze-cuckoo breeds in south-west and south-east Australia including Tasmania, in New Zealand and in other islands of the south Pacific. It migrates in the austral winter to Queensland, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia though a few birds remain in south-east Australia. Migration northwards is in February / March and they return in August / September.
Immature Shining Bronze Cuckoo, You Yangs RP, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image The sub-species which breeds in Australia is C. l. plagosus though the nominate can be seen as a passage migrant on its way to and from its breeding grounds in New Zealand and other islands.

It is bronze-green above with a brownish head. The face and underparts are white with bronze-brown bars. This bird is an immature and these bars are confined to its flanks.
Immature Shining Bronze Cuckoo, You Yangs RP, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image It is a brood parasite and lays its eggs in the nests of birds such as thornbills, robins and fairy-wrens. How the Cuckoo lays its eggs in a domed nest is a mystery.
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